Suggested Books

PARTNERS

Stunning Minoan Gemstone Owned by a Bronze Age Warrior Rewrites the History of Ancient Greek Art

In the more than two years since University of Cincinnati researchers unearthed the 3,500-year-old tomb of a Bronze Age warrior in southwest Greece, an incredible trove of riches has emerged, including four gold signet rings that have challenged accepted wisdom among archaeologists about the origins of Greek civilization.

But that wasn't the only secret hidden there beneath the hard-baked clay. It would take another year before the so-called "Griffin Warrior" revealed his most stunning historical offering yet: an intricately carved gem, or sealstone, that UC researchers say is one of the finest works of prehistoric Greek art ever discovered.

The "Pylos Combat Agate," as the seal has come to be known for the fierce hand-to-hand battle it portrays, promises not only to rewrite the history of ancient Greek art, but to help shed light on myth and legend in an era of Western civilization still steeped in mystery.

The seal is the latest and most significant treasure to emerge from the treasure-laden tomb of the Griffin Warrior, which was hailed as the most spectacular archaeological discovery in Greece in more than half a century when it was uncovered in an olive grove near the ancient city of Pylos in 2015.

The remarkably undisturbed and intact grave revealed not only the well-preserved remains of what is believed to have been a powerful Mycenaean warrior or priest buried around 1500 B.C., but also an incredible trove of burial riches that serve as a time capsule into the origins of Greek civilization.

But the tomb didn't readily reveal its secrets. It took conservation experts more than a year to clean the limestone-encrusted seal, say dig leaders Shari Stocker, a senior research associate in UC's Department of Classics, and Jack Davis, the university's Carl W. Blegen professor of Greek archaeology and department head.

As the intricate details of the seal's design emerged, the researchers were shocked to discover they had unearthed no less than a masterpiece.

"Looking at the image for the first time was a very moving experience, and it still is," said Stocker. "It's brought some people to tears." Davis and Stocker say the Pylos Combat Agate's craftsmanship and exquisite detail make it the finest discovered work of glyptic art produced in the Aegean Bronze Age.

"What is fascinating is that the representation of the human body is at a level of detail and musculature that one doesn't find again until the classical period of Greek art 1,000 years later," explained Davis. "It's a spectacular find."

An enlarged drawing of the stunningly detailed combat scene captured on an agate sealstone discovered by the University of Cincinnati's Sharon Stocker and Jack Davis. Tina Ross/Courtesy Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati. ( Color illustration/Ben Gardner, UC Creative Services )

Even more extraordinary, the husband-and-wife team point out, is that the meticulously carved combat scene was painstakingly etched on a piece of hard stone measuring just 3.6 centimeters, or just over 1.4 inches, in length. Indeed, many of the seal's details, such as the intricate weaponry ornamentation and jewelry decoration, become clear only when viewed with a powerful camera lens and photomicroscopy.

"Some of the details on this are only a half-millimeter big," said Davis. "They're incomprehensibly small."

The miniature masterpiece portrays a victorious warrior who, having already vanquished one unfortunate opponent sprawled at his feet, now turns his attention to another much more formidable foe, plunging his sword into the shielded man's exposed neck in what is sure to be a final and fatal blow.

It's a scene that conjures the sweeping and epic battles, larger-than-life heroes and grand adventures of Homer's "The Iliad," the epic Greek poem that immortalized a mythological decade-long war between the Trojan and Mycenaean kingdoms. While the researchers can't say that the image was intended to reflect a Homeric epic, the scene undoubtedly reflects a legend that was well known to Minoans and Mycenaeans, says Stocker.

"It would have been a valuable and prized possession, which certainly is representative of the Griffin Warrior's role in Mycenaean society," she explained. "I think he would have certainly identified himself with the hero depicted on the seal."

Though the seal and other burial riches found within the tomb suggest the Griffin Warrior held an esteemed position in Mycenaean society, that so many of the artifacts are Minoan-made raises intriguing questions about his culture.

Scholarly consensus has long theorized that mainlander Mycenaeans simply imported or robbed such riches from the affluent Minoan civilization on the large island of Crete, southeast of Pylos. Although the Minoans were culturally dominant to the Greek mainlanders, the civilization fell to the Mycenaeans around 1500-1400 B.C. -- roughly the same time period in which the Griffin Warrior died.

In a series of presentations and a paper published last year, Davis and Stocker revealed that the discovery of four gold signet rings bearing highly detailed Minoan iconography, along with other Minoan-made riches found within the tomb, indicates a far greater and complex cultural interchange took place between the Mycenaeans and Minoans.

But the skill and sophistication of the Pylos Combat Agate is unparalleled by anything uncovered before from the Minoan-Mycenaean world, say the researchers. And that raises a bigger question: How does this change our understanding of Greek art in the Bronze Age?

"It seems that the Minoans were producing art of the sort that no one ever imagined they were capable of producing," explained Davis. "It shows that their ability and interest in representational art, particularly movement and human anatomy, is beyond what it was imagined to be. Combined with the stylized features, that itself is just extraordinary."

The revelation, he and Stocker say, prompts a reconsideration of the evolution and development of Greek art.

"This seal should be included in all forthcoming art history texts, and will change the way that prehistoric art is viewed," said Stocker.

Stocker and Davis will present findings from the Pylos Combat Agate in a paper to be published later this month in the journal Hesperia.

Meanwhile, work continues in unlocking the full mysteries of the Griffin Warrior's tomb. Davis and Stocker, along with other UC staff specialists and students, have altogether catalogued more than 3,000 burial objects discovered in the grave, some of which are still in the process of being cleaned and preserved.

In the spring of 2016, a UC-based team made a rich and rare discovery of an intact, Bronze Age warrior's tomb dating back to about 1500 B.C. in the Pylos region of Greece. The Greek Culture Ministry declared the find the "most important to have been discovered [in continental Greece] in 65 years" by the Greek Culture Ministry.

The tomb revealed a remarkably intact skeleton, which UC researchers dubbed the "Griffin Warrior" for the discovery of an ivory plaque adorned with a griffin -- a mythical beast with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle -- buried with him.

The 3,500-year-old shaft grave also revealed more than 3,000 objects arrayed on and around the warrior's body, including four solid gold rings, silver cups, precious stone beads, fine-toothed ivory combs and an intricately built sword, among other weapons.

The article, originally titled ‘Discovery of a rare Minoan sealstone in the treasure-laden tomb of a Bronze Age Greek warrior promises to rewrite the history of ancient Greek art,’ was originally published on Science Daily .

Source: University of Cincinnati. "Archaeologists unearth 'masterpiece' sealstone in Greek tomb: Discovery of a rare Minoan sealstone in the treasure-laden tomb of a Bronze Age Greek warrior promises to rewrite the history of ancient Greek art." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2017.

Reference:

Jack L. Davis, Sharon R. Stocker. The Lord of the Gold Rings: The Griffin Warrior of Pylos . Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens , 2016; 85 (4): 627 DOI: 10.2972/hesperia.85.4.0627

Comments

This may represent a civil war between parts of the Minoan empire after the Thera eruption and before a Mycenaean invasion. The figure on the left is clearly a Cretan 'bull leaping' athlete from the attire, notice the codpiece worn by Minoan bull leapers. This may actually explain the sport and right of passage into a Military warrior class. Also, note a secondary club on the belt that was known to be used by Minoans see Baal and the dispatch of an adversary with an unusually powerful club (e.g. weighted orb end). Others have speculated this is a scabbard, but the one on the floor clearly shows this was detached and held in hand for some purpose and maybe a secondary/combination weapon.

The figure on the right I believe is a Caran hoplite that lived on Delos (centre of the Cyclades) and another adjacent island. They invented military dances (formations, and drill), introduced many military inventions (figure of eight shields, Horsehair helmet plumes that the Greek subsequently adopted) and fought as a military unit phalanx (all shown), they were regarded later as the best-disciplined fighters by the Greeks, and at some point changed sides. They were known to provide crew and soldiers for Minos navy but paid no tribute, this implies they were paid by him for their service. Further it was known that at a festival to Apollo at Delos, Minoans brought significant head of cattle (payment for services rendered).

My own analysis of these facts is that the seal represents a battle. The seal shows a heavy attrition rate of two Minoan foot soldiers (on the floor), to one Caran about to be dispatched by a Minoan leaping elite. It is assumed that the Minoan empire was in sharp decline after the Theta eruption, the trade network collapsed in upon itself, metal reserves running low, a global food crisis, and no surpluses from trade to pay the Carians, war! It looks like Cretan won on this occasion, we know the Carans changed sides and may have aligned themselves with Mycenaean to subsequently seized control of what remained of the Minoan empire. The seal may record the demise of the Minoan empire. It shows all the hall marks of Palace master craftsmanship and they would have wished to record this hard victory and betrayal, the Cretan won the battle but subsequently lost the war.

The use of the Carian shield is also interesting, it used at 90 degrees for close quarter combat (shown), it was assumed these were somewhat cumbersome full body shields (1x2m - composite of leathers skins stapled to a wicker base, superb at absorbing impact energy)that would have been good at defeating standoff slings and arrows. Look how the Carian, then rotates this at close quarters it provides 1m protection either side of the body to defeat being cut by a sword for the sides, similarly the helmet plumes absorb downward cuts to the head. The only way to penetrate this defence is to leap over the height of the sheild, dodge the hoplite and use the sword tip to penetrate the only weak spot at the neck. But to do so you have to avoid the jabbing hoplite. The drawing is misleading there is no outward thrust leg on the seal itself, the Minoan is leaping!

Armand D'Angour / The Conversation In 1932, the musicologist Wilfrid Perrett reported to an audience at the Royal Musical Association in London the words of an unnamed professor of Greek with musical...

Since the 16th century, Basel has been home to a mysterious papyrus. With mirror writing on both sides, it has puzzled generations of researchers. A research team from the University of Basel has now...

Viral Articles

The leprechaun is perhaps one of the best-known creatures in Irish folklore. Leprechauns are popularly depicted as little men with beards dressed in green coats and tall green hats. Other well-known beliefs about leprechauns include the pot of gold that they are said to keep at the end of the rainbow, and their mischievous nature. Whilst many are familiar with this general depiction of the leprechaun, there are other aspects of these Irish creatures that are less well-known.

Top New Stories

Neolthic cooking pots can tell you a lot about life in the culture that used them; if you have the right tools on hand. New research on such pottery by the University of Bristol has uncovered how early farmers were adapting to climate change 8,200 years ago.

Myths & Legends

The leprechaun is perhaps one of the best-known creatures in Irish folklore. Leprechauns are popularly depicted as little men with beards dressed in green coats and tall green hats. Other well-known beliefs about leprechauns include the pot of gold that they are said to keep at the end of the rainbow, and their mischievous nature. Whilst many are familiar with this general depiction of the leprechaun, there are other aspects of these Irish creatures that are less well-known.

Human Origins

Most people who have the Rh blood type are Rh-positive. There are also instances, however, where people are Rh-Negative. Health problems may occur for the unborn child of a mother with Rh-Negative blood when the baby is Rh-Positive.

Opinion

Does a hidden garden hold the encoded secrets of the Kabbalists? Hidden away in a cul-de-sac at the base of the towering medieval walls of Girona, Catalonia, Spain, is a tranquil garden. A statue of a long-haired angel stands guard over the entrance, its hands clasped in prayer.

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.